Cost Overruns

Regarding the Illinois Commerce Commission's decision on refunds to Commonwealth Edison customers for cost overruns at one of its nuclear facilities: I hope this decision will set a precedent for taxpayers` refunds on cost overruns on state, city and county public projects. I would venture a guess that no public projects have come in at estimated costs or below. At least Commonwealth Edison has a reasonable excuse for its overruns-excess regulation and construction delays brought on by opposition groups.

RIO DE JANEIRO - In 50 days, the best athletes in the world's most popular sport will convene in Brazil, one of soccer's sacred spiritual homes, for the game's most important tournament. It will be a powerful, uplifting tribute to both the "beautiful game" Brazilians have shaped for decades and the new status of a confident, rising global power in Latin America. Locals and foreigners will marvel at shiny new stadiums and glide across the continent-sized country on upgraded...

MADRID, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Work on the massive Panama Canal extension project may be suspended after a clash between the builders and the Panamanian authorities about $1.6 billion in cost overruns, according to a statement from the building consortium on Wednesday. The cost overruns on the $3.2 billion canal extension, one of the world's largest construction contracts, should be met by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) under the terms of the ...

MADRID, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Work on the massive Panama Canal extension project may be suspended after a clash between the builders and the Panamanian authorities about $1.6 billion in cost overruns, according to a statement from the building consortium on Wednesday. The cost overruns on the $3.2 billion canal extension, one of the world's largest construction contracts, should be met by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) under the terms of the ...

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department has no flexibility or interest in any additional restructuring of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 programs that would lead to the transfer of billions of dollars into the program, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told reporters on Monday. He said that meant that any additional bills or cost overruns on the program could lead to a reduction in the total number of "tails" - or planes to be...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's recent focus on pricing has led to "remarkable progress" in cutting the cost of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program, but the plane still costs more than it should to build and operate, Director of Defense Pricing Shay Assad said. "We're making progress. We're doing OK, but we have a long way to go to get to what a Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) should cost," Assad said in an interview last week. The Pentagon expects to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first Ford-class aircraft carrier being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc may see further cost increases after it is commissioned, according to a congressional report that urged the U.S. Navy to delay a contract for a follow-on ship. The report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the Navy should conduct a cost-benefit analysis and study the required capabilities of the second Ford-class...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first Ford-class aircraft carrier being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc may see further cost increases after it is commissioned, according to a congressional report that urged the U.S. Navy to delay a contract for a follow-on ship. The report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the Navy should conduct a cost-benefit analysis and study the required capabilities of the second Ford-class...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's defense ministry is in talks with two consortiums - led by U.S. engineers CH2M Hill and Bechtel - that are competing to run its 159 billion pound ($249 billion) equipment buying program to cut delays and cost overruns. A Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesman said on Wednesday it was taking forward commercial negotiations with the CH2M Hill-led group that also consists of British firms WS Atkins and Serco Group as well as with...

The Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet program is facing cost overruns of $700 million and possibly up to $1 billion, the Air Force announced Friday. The money woes probably will force the Pentagon to cut back on the number of Raptors it buys, though how many is unclear, said Marvin Sambur, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition. The Air Force wants to buy 339 Raptors. The supersonic fighter was proposed two decades ago.

(Reuters) - Spirit AeroSystems Holdings , a supplier of parts to Boeing Co and Airbus , on Tuesday said it plans to sell its Oklahoma operations and delayed its quarterly earnings report. The company, which is looking to drive down expenses after past stumbles with cost overruns on airplane programs, said it expects to record a big charge to second quarter earnings, which it had been due to report on Tuesday. Its shares fell nearly 3 percent. Spun off from Boeing in...

Chicago filed suit Friday seeking nearly $2 million in damages from Walsh Construction Co. for breach of its $16 million contract to relocate jet taxiways at O`Hare International Airport. The company is 56 days behind schedule because of a dispute over $890,000 in cost overruns demanded by the contractor, said acting Corporation Counsel Judson Miner. The dispute began two months ago when the city would not agree to the added costs. The work is part of the $1.5 billion expansion project at...

HOUSTON, May 20 (Reuters) - Southern Co's smallest utility unit, Mississippi Power, named a new president on Monday in response to pressure from state regulators concerned about cost overruns at a controversial coal-gasification plant under construction in Kemper County, Mississippi. Mississippi Power said its board elected G. Edison "Ed" Holland president and chief executive officer, replacing Ed Day who was named to the job less than three years ago. ...

Township High School District 113's proposed $89 million referendum isn't practical, well devised or sensible. It is only the initial phase of Superintendent George V. Fornero's master plan, the first piece of the pie. Once again, as in the proposed $133 million referendum that was defeated in 2011, the emphasis is on athletic improvements, not educational upgrades. Diving wells will benefit a very limited number of students. Hydraulic pool dividers will be expensive to...